Use this pattern to identify someone or something

You can make many useful first sentences by naming what something is: “It is coffee,” “I am a student,” or “This is a book.” In polite everyday Korean, a noun can be followed by 이에요 or the shortened form 예요.

The pattern in this lesson is noun + 이에요/예요. It is a way to identify or classify, not a universal replacement for every English use of “be.” “I am tired,” “I am eating,” and “I am at home” need other Korean structures.

You only need to recognise whether the last written syllable of the noun has a bottom consonant. If that is new, revisit the syllable-block guide. That final consonant position is called 받침, often written batchim in English explanations.

Check the final syllable of the noun

책 ends with ㄱ at the bottom, so use 책이에요. 차 has no bottom consonant, so the common short form is 차예요. Attach the ending directly to the noun without a space.

Look at the actual Korean noun you are using. In 학생, the final syllable 생 ends in ㅇ, so the sentence is 학생이에요. In 의자, the final syllable 자 ends in a vowel, so use 의자예요. The spelling of an English translation such as “chair” cannot tell you which ending to choose.

You may meet an unshortened 이에요 after a vowel in explanations or speech. The rule here teaches the normal beginner choice for the short form; it is not a claim that the longer form can never occur.

Build sentences from things around you

When both speakers know what they are looking at, 커피예요 can be a complete useful answer. Korean does not require you to repeat an English-style “it” in every such sentence. When the topic is not clear, add context: 이건 커피예요, “This is coffee.” 이건 is a conversational shortened form of 이것은.

These endings do not independently tell you “I,” “you,” “he,” or “it.” The noun phrase and the conversation provide that information. In 학생이에요, you need the situation to know who is a student. 저는 makes “I” explicit.

The same ending can ask a question

In writing, a question mark can turn the short identification sentence into a question. In speech, use questioning intonation and listen to the context:

You do not add an English-style “is” at the beginning. Keep the noun and ending together. Try 물이에요? when asking whether a drink is water. Spoken intonation can vary, so a recording is better than treating one arrow drawn on a sentence as the only possible pitch pattern.

For “is not,” learn 아니에요 as its own form

The polite negative expression is 아니에요. For the full beginner pattern, put 이 after a noun ending in a consonant, or 가 after a noun ending in a vowel, then leave a space before 아니에요.

In 학생이 아니에요, 이 is a particle attached to 학생; 아니에요 is a separate word. In 커피가 아니에요, 가 plays that particle role. The negative pattern is not made by inserting the English word “not” into the positive one.

Write 아니에요, not 아니예요. It is formed from 아니다 and does not follow the noun-shortening shortcut above. You may also see the contraction 아녜요. For now, use the fuller 아니에요 consistently.

Three small fixes that make a large difference

• 커피에요 → 커피예요 when you mean “It is coffee.” 예요 is the common shortened noun ending here; a bare 에요 is not the substitute.
• 책 예요 → 책이에요. The noun has 받침, and the ending attaches without a space.
• 먹다예요 is not “I eat.” An action verb needs its own conjugation. Do not put the noun pattern after any word that has an English meaning.

Polite everyday endings are useful with many unfamiliar adults, but politeness also depends on the request, tone, and relationship. Adding 요 does not automatically make every possible sentence considerate.

Choose, explain, and make your own

Choose three items you can point to and make one positive sentence and one question for each. Then practise one correction: “It is not X. It is Y.” Return to the first-sentences guide if you need help keeping the sentence ending at the end.

A small listening check

Reference

The examples and practice tasks in this guide were written for Korean With a Local. For reference and further study:

• National Institute of Korean Language: 에요 and 예요 — Official explanation of 이에요, 예요, and 아니에요, in Korean.
• National Institute of Korean Language: the unshortened form — Clarifies that 이에요 can also appear unshortened after a vowel.

Reviewed September 3, 2026. Found a mistake? Send a correction.